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ERECTED by the VETERANS OF THE 

Mil Of fllllSSli. 



UJ\rrEILED APRIL 6lh, 1887. 



Metairie Cemetery, 



Ne-w Orleans, L,a. 



OEATION BY EANDALL LEE filBSOE 



Picayune Job Print, QQ> Camp Street, 
IJew Orleans, La. 



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ORATION BY RANDALL LEE GIBSON. 



Ladies aivd Gentlemen — The iiucounted multitude before 
me and arouud me, aud that fills the wide spaces and broad 
avenues between yonder busy city of the living and this beau- 
tiful city of the dead, attests the feeling which the occasion ex- 
cites. The universal and pervading interest proclaims the pro- 
found impression that the day and the purpose of our assem- 
bling have made upon the hearts of our countrymen. 

On behalf of the Veterans of the Army of Tennessee I ex- 
tend cordial greetings and welcome to all ; to the chief magis- 
trates aud high officials of our own commonwealth and city ; 
to the distinguished citizens from other States, among whom 
are many of their comrades, renowned soldiers; to the Vet- 
erans of the Grand Army of the Republic bringing flowers and 
offerings of peace and good- will, once standing in opposing 
ranks, but now our neighbors, friends and fellow-citizens ; to 
the officers of our army, who represent the military honor and 
power aud magnanimity of our united country ; and to Jeffer- 
erson Davis, who, though beyond three-score years and ten^ 
remembering the friend of his youth, aud their associations in 
more arduous times, has come to mingle with the sons and 
daughters of Louisiana. Welcome, thrice welcome, venerable 
soldier, statesman, and patriot ! 

There was inscribed upon the first monument ever erected 
on this continent to commemorate jjatriotic services the follow- 
ing sentiment, by order of the Commons of South Carolina, in 
1765 : " Time shall sooner destroy this mark of their esteem 
than erase from their minds the just sense of his patriotic vir- 
tue." In spite of revolutions and dismemberments, civil strife 
and wars, mutations of governments and opinions, the flight of 
one hundred aud twenty-two years, the colossal statue of the 
Earl of Chatham, the great English Commoner, still stands in 
the city by the sea, and esteem for his patriotic virtue, extend- 
ing beyond the limits of the country whose liberties he cham- 
pioned, survives as widespread as the language his eloquence 



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enriched. E(iually enduring throughout all the vicissitudes of 
human affairs shall be the esteem and the memorials of his 
fellow-countrymen for the patriotic virtue and stainless charac- 
ter of Jefferson Davis. 

Although a quarter of the century, twenty-five long years, 
crowded with extraordinary and absorbing events, the most 
momentous revolution of modern times, changing the relations 
and face of all things, have passed over us, yet the battle of 
Shiloh has never ceased to engage the attention of the histori- 
an and military critic, and remains fresh and vivid in the 
recollections of the survivors. And as ofteu as its anniversary 
shall recur, there will arise before our miuds, out of the smoke 
and din of the past, the figure of the matchless hero who fell at 
the head of the army on that bloody field— the beloved leader 
of our comrades, kindred and countrymen— and our hearts will 
overflow with love and grief, gratitude and admiration. 

It was not the purpose of the veterans who erected this 
equestrian statue, upon which with a stroke of genius the art- 
ist has impressed the likeness and bearing of our hero, to strive 
to perpetuate his fame, for they knew that on the brightest 
pages of our country's history, on the glowing canvas and the 
breathing marble his services and military exploits would be 
handed down to coming times. But they desire to embody in 
enduring bronze— to express in a form and figure that should 
defy decay— their own loving remembrance and appreciation 
of the virtues and merits of Albert Sidney Johnston. 

This noble monument interprets and expresses the senti- 
ments uppermost in the hearts of the thousands who now gaze 
npon it in rapt attention. Our silent emotions, when the un- 
seen and mysterious chords in the human bosom are touched 
by the wand of memory or by the presence ot a symbol recall- 
ing some inspiring thought, some heroic act, some generous 
deed of self-sacrifice, some philanthropist like Tulaue, some 
benefactor like Eads, some patriot's death for land and liberty, 
are deeper than when excited by any words from human lips. 

Whose patriotism would not be quickened by looking on the 
l)lains ot Marathon? Whose appreciation of constitutional 
freedom would not be more exalted by the associations that fill 
the precincts of Westminster Abbey than by all the eloquence 
of the British Senate ? The shield of Achilles suggests spring 
and harvest time and vintage, courts of justice and marriage 



feasts, cities in peace, cities ia war — a history of civilization. 

Here is a poem, au oration in this magnificent work of art, 
that tells the story of an eventful and heroic life, and appeals 
to every passer-by to honor truth, virtue and duty. Whose 
heart does not beat in responsive sympathy with the example 
and lessons here inculcated, and thrill with a glow of rapture 
and inspiration at the magic of the hero's name "? Who can 
look upon this bronze image without recalling the early days 
of the war, the stirring notes ot preparation, the last farewells 
to the loved ones at home, the joys of new associations and 
comradeship in the busy camps, the weary marches over hill 
and plain, in snow and ice and sleet, and through the sum- 
mer's heats and rains, the ministering hospitals, the meagre ra- 
tions, the lonely outpost, and the shock of mighty battles— the 
courage, endurance and devotion of the private soldier, the 
pride and glory of the Confederate Army and the Southern 
people ? 

Forever embalmed in our hearts are the memories of the 
brave and good and true men who died for us, and in the long 
years to come the veneration and honor and reverence that we 
shall manifest for the cause in which they perished, will con- 
stitute the measure of our own claims to the respect and con- 
sideration of mankind. 

Where could be found a spot or scene so lovely and so ap- 
propriate for these ceremonies, and for the monument we this 
day dedicate ? Eemoved far from the noisy mart, the gentle 
slopes of the Metairie Cemetery, clothed in living green, stretch 
away toward the horizon, diversified by beds of bright roses 
and sweet violets and rare plants about the graceful memorials 
which affection has consecrated to the departed ; while, keep- 
ing eternal vigils over all, great live oaks here and there lift 
their protecting branches to the skies as if supplicating a per- 
petual benediction. Within sight of where we stand we be- 
hold the tombs of many gallant dead, surmounted by a monu- 
ment to their commander, whose eagle eye ever directed his 
invincible columns along the pathway of victory, around the 
beleaguered capital, and through the valleys of old Virginia, 
whose character and genius rendered classic in song and story 
the scenes of his achievements, and shed .imperishable glory 
upon the people who call themselves the countrymen of Stone- 
wall Jackson. Here, underneath this majestic mound, sleep 



many of the devoted band who, braving shot and shell, fell in 
the dense thickets at Shiloh, fit companions in death, as in life, 
of their compatriots of the Army of Virginia. Over the way, 
near the approaches, is a superb cenotaph to the fallen heroes 
of Louisiana— a testimonial of the patriotic devotion, and love, 
and sacrifice of the noble women of our State. And in what- 
ever direction we may turn, our vision shall rest upon pillars 
and shafts engraven in marble and bronze to the memory of 
some famous corps or familiar name illustrious under the ban- 
ners of the Confederacy. 

No less fitting and proper is it that these ceremonies should 
be celebrated by the veterans of Louisiana, for not only was 
Albert Sidney Johnston appointed to the Military Academy at 
West Point, from Louisiana, with whose people he was closely 
connected by ties of consanguinity and association in early life, 
but no State, in proportion to its population, furnished more 
troops or bore a more prominent part in the battle of Shiloh. 
There was our greatest soldier, second in command, with the 
laurel leaf of Manassas fresh upon his brow, whose presence 
gave inspiration and courage to every assault, and steadiness 
and composure in repelling every onset, and whose name and 
fame will be transmitted as the brightest gem in the coronet of 
Louisiana to her children. There was the indefatigable Bragg, 
who had but recently quitted his plantation on Bayou La- 
fourche, and was at the head of the splendid Pensacola Divis- 
ion. There was our bishop-soldier, the friend of Johnston from 
early boyhood, whose very name became the synonym of 
pluck, energy and skill throughout the army, and whose char- 
iieter realized all our conceptions of the beau ideal of a noble man- 
hood. In subordinate positions many other contributed their 
full share to the glory that covered the Confederate arms upon 
that severely contested field, where the musketry fire and 
death rate were not exceeded in any battle of the war. Who 
can ever forget, among those who are not with us to-day and 
can never be with us again. Gladden and Adams, Allen, Mou- 
ton and Austin ; Avegno, Slocomb and Fisk ; Pond, Armant 
and Hunter; Tracy, Hodge andWinans; Yaught, Stuart and 
Watson, and numberless more unnamed heroes, who live in 
the hearts of their comrades, their children, and their couutry- 
men ? 

On this spot, in this presence, and amid these surroundings 



and associations, the veterans of the Army of Tennessee have 
assembled, and invited their countrymen to assemble, at the 
unveiling of this superb equestrian monument to the memory 
of Albert Sidney Johnston. It is needless to recount the facts 
and incidents of his life, for they are familiar to you all; and 
his devoted son. Col. Wm. Preston Johnston, President of the 
Tulane University, has related them in a biography that has 
taken a permanent and high rank in the literature of our 
couhtry. You will naturally recall his birth in Kentucky, his 
education at West Point, his assignment to the army in the 
northwest ; his resigoation from the army ; his life as a planter 
and citizen of Texas'! his career as the Commander-in-Chief of 
the Texan army, and Secretary of War of Texas while an inde- 
pendent republic, his services during the Mexican war, which 
were so brilliant as to justify Gen. Taylor in saying that he was 
the best soldier in his army ; his re-appointment to the army 
of the United States as Colonel of the Second Cavalry, with 
Robert E. Lee, Hardee, Thomas, Van Dorn, Hood and a score 
of other distinguished officers, as subordinates. Nor will you 
fail to remember with what consummate judgment, prudence, 
and courage, he conducted the Utah expedition, and that he 
was in command of the military forces of the United States ou 
the Pacific coast at the outbreak of hostilities in the late war. 

These were but the successive steps to that theatre on 
which he was to act the part of leader in a mighty drama : the 
links in the chain of events that were to discipline him for the 
responsibilities of a transaction which was to determine the 
destinies of millions of people. 

Plutarch would have delighted to describe his personal 
appearance, and the antique simplicity of his nature. You all 
Femember him as he rode along the lines on his blood bay 
horse, accompanied by his staff and escort, before the battle 
which was to terminate his life, returning the frequent saluta- 
tions with earnest dignity and gentleness, stopping for a mo. 
ment here to greet some old comrade of other wars, or there to 
take the hand of some inexperienced young soldier in wlKpm 
he felt a personal interest, animating all by his words of good 
cheer, and by a bearing free from excitement, yet inspiring 
the conviction everywhere of his purpose to conquer or to die. 

When Priam repaired to the Scean Gate to gaze upon the 
Greek warriors, he recognized their chief on the instant, before 



Helen could point bim out, saying: 

" Sit and name 
For me this ruipjhty niiin, the Grecian chief, 
Gallant ami tall. True, there are taller men ; 
But of t>nch uoble form and dignity 
I never saw. in truth, a kingly man.'' 

And so if any stranger could have looked upon the assem- 
bled chiefs of the Coufederate host, Albert Sidney Johnston 
would have been recoguized as their Agamemnon. Tall, erect^ 
broad-shouldered — a massive head and projecting brows, 
under which were deep-set grayish blue eyes, '' melting in love 
and kindling in war," his ruddy complexion somewhat bronzed 
by loug service in the field — an intense exiH'ession of concen- 
trated thought upon his face as if bent upon enterprise of 
great moment, he was the perfect type of manly grace and 
l)ower. 

"A combination and a form indeed. 
Where every god did seem to set his seal, 
To give the world assurance of a man." 

A man who is a man, who has faith in his fellow-men, and 
stands on the right-laid line of truth and duty and honor, 
whose conscience is his king, is the lordliest thing in the uni- 
verse. No machine, however complex, no piece of mechanism^ 
however exquisitely wrought, no work of art, no phenomenon 
of nature, is comparable to him. God-like in apprehension, 
infinite in faculty, such men constitute the living source of the 
wonderful energy, wealth, power, greatness, glory of States, 
and the consummate flower and fruit of civilization. 

If we seek to discover the characteristic qualities, the vir- 
tues and faculties that sustained Johnston through every 
phase of his career, and won for him the confidence of the 
President of the Confederacy, and of his countrymen, we will 
find, I think, that they may be all summed up in the fact that 
he was one of those rare men, possessed of a sublime moral 
sense, united to an intellectual energy and clearness that cons- 
tituted his a superlative nature, greatest in the supreme mo- 
ments and crises of life. When he saw the right, he never 
hesitated, never faltered— his own interest, love of place, 
wealth, comfort, power, personal cousequences, went for 
naught. How easy it would have been for him to have re- 
mained in the regular army, and on the side of the government 
he had served the greater part of his life ! Distant from the 
scenes of contention, holding himself always aloof from partj 



politics, how natural it would have been for him at the age of 
fifty-nine to have accepted the proffered command of the Union 
Armies under a powerful government, ready to reward his 
loyalty and services with all that men ordinarily covet and 
value in this world ! But, turning his back upon these dazzling 
prizes, he resigned his commission and began a journey of more 
than 2,000 miles on horseback, through a trackle.ss wilderness, 
uninhabited deserts and suffocating heats, to offer his sword 
to the Confederate Grovernment, as yet without a navy, with- 
out an army, without an established exchequer. 

Profoundly convinced that the cause of the South was just 
and right, he embraced it as his own. It seemed to him clear 
that to resist the policy of coercion, and conquest and subjuga- 
tion, was to resist naked usurpation and tyranny. 

At a juncture in fioman history somewhat similar, Cjelius 
wrote to his friend Cicero the following letter, urging him 
to join Caesar : " During internal strife and contention, so long 
as the issues are to be determined under the constitution and 
laws, without recourse to arms, it is our duty, Cicero, to sup- 
j)ort the cause of honesty and right ; but if war should inter- 
vene, and an appeal be made to arms, then we should join the 
stronger side, and regard the party it represents as the best." 
I do not mean to impute uny improper motives to the gallant 
soldiers who joined the Union Army, but Johnston and Lee, 
more clearly than untrained and inexperienced minds, appre- 
ciated the vast odds against which the South had to contend. 
Nor do the annals of Roman history present brighter examples 
of self-sacrifice, and of devotion to right and truth. 

It was the high moral element that gave composure and 
consistency to Johnston in all situations. He often exclaimed 
when perplexed by doubts and difficulties: "I trust in God," 
No wonder, then, that knowing him as he did, Jefferson Davis, 
upon hearing his once familiar step upon the stairway leading 
into the executivajofflce at Richmond, should have exclaimed : 
" That is the step of Sidney Johnston ; his coming is worth 
more than 10,000 men. I shall hope to sleep quietly now." 

Johnston's own sense of the importance of cultivating 
moral courage is disclosed in a letter addressed to his wife, 
with messages to his boys, dated June 30, 18G1 : '' I have 
nothing to say to my boys that has not already been said. I 
have perfect confidence that they will be all that ought to be 



desired or expected. Tbe;^mnst learn that one man, by aa 
exliibition of i)hysical power, can control but few. It is by 
moral power alone that numbers of minds are controlled and 
directed by one mind." 

This quality was to be put to the test, and to stand him in 
need, shortly after he assumed command, on the order of 
President Davis, of the armies of the West. If ever there was 
a country to which the remark of Yon Moltke applies, namely, 
" that geography is three-fourths of war,'' it is the country he 
was called upon to defend. Penetrated by the Mississippi 
river, the flank of the main army turned by the Ohio, Cumber- 
laud and Tennessee rivers, there was scarcely a feature in it 
that did not present an advantage to the enemy, and render 
any disaster almost necessarily fatal, of any advance perilous 
except by marches of unexampled length and endurance. 

He had hardly acquainted himself with the situation and 
resources, and undertaken the work of organization and dispo- 
sition of his forces on a definite plan of operations, before the 
disasters at Fishing Creek, at Fort Henry and at Fort Donel- 
son, agitated and depressed the people like an earthquake. 
At once the public excitement, disappointment, and wrath, 
overleaping all bounds, selected Johnston as the victim. He 
remained calm, self-poised amidst all the unjust censure and 
thoughtless obloquy. Sustained by a trust in God, and a 
moral courage that never for a moment deserted him, he went 
forward to supply all deficiencies from his own tireless energy 
and matchles resources. No censure of others, no word of 
complaint, no reproaches, no resentments escaped his lips. 
" The test of merit in my profession,-' he wrote to his steadfast 
friend. President Davis, '' with the people is suciiess. It is a 
hard rule, but I think it right." Nobler sentiments were never 
uttered. His own imperial and august character towered 
above the tempest that beat against him, and the passions of 
the hour, t,, ^ , 

" As some tall cliff that lifts its awfnl fibrin, 
Swells from tlie vale, and midway leaves tbe storm, 
Though rouufl its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal suushiue settles on his head." 

The appalling situation was then, for the first time, dis- 
closed to the country. The vast ilisparity between the forces 
of the contending armies became manifest. Where it was sup- 
loosed there had been great corps (Parmee^ there were only thin 



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brigades. The spirit of exaggeration had deluded the people. 
Silent, undismayed, vigilant, devoted, Johnston determined at 
once to undertake to march away from the presence of Buell, 
and to form a junction with Beauregard with a view of assum- 
ing the offensive. The concentration of the forces at Corinth 
was one of the master-strokes of the war. It was accomplished 
under difficulties that were discouraging, and apparently in- 
surmountable; but by the magic of genius, before Buell had 
joined Grant, Johnston was marching forth from Corinth to 
suri^rise Grant, and overwhelm his army on the field of Shiloh. 

During the battle he exhibited a genius for actual fighting 
equal to the strategy which had brought him there. Shortly 
after it was discovered that the enemy had been surprised, 
and was yielding except at certain well-selected defensive 
positions where concentration had been effected, and where 
the resistance was stubborn, Johnston called for the reser\"es 
under Breckenridge, and hurled them on the left flank of the 
enemy. That movement determined the issue of the day. It 
was an inspiration of genius. Military writers advise such 
movements; military commanders commend them in theory ; 
all applaud them when made, but you may count the names of 
the officers in any war on the fingers of your left hand who 
will strike the enemy on his flank, and persist in striking, not- 
withstanding opposing menaces and obstacles. 

It was while executing this design, in the full tide of 
victory, that Albert Sidney Johnston received his death- wound, 
and fell like Wolfe on the heights of Abraham — as a true sol- 
dier would love to die — on the edge of battle, in the moment 
of triumph. 

" He did not fall 
Like drooping flowers that no man noticeth ; 
But like a great branch of some stately tree, 
Rent in a tempest and flung down to death, 
Thick with green leafage — so that piteously 
Each passer by that ruin, shuddereth 
And saith : The gap this branch has left is wide. 
The loss thereof can never be supplied." 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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